"I hope they are all not like that"
"Enjoy the win but have tough skin tomorrow,"
Dennis Allen on today's dramatic win pic.twitter.com/yWLUYTjS6K
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 11, 2022
It’s not every day that you see a team rally from a 16-point deficit with about 12 minutes left in regulation, but that does seem to happen to the New Orleans Saints more often than most teams. And it’s what Dennis Allen experienced in his first game as the team’s full-time head coach, which he acknowledged after the 27-26 thriller concluded.
“I hope they are all not like that,” Allen deadpanned to reporters during his postgame media availability, reflecting on the intense late-game dramatics. He watched his offense struggle to move the ball for three quarters only to explode in the game’s final phase, with his defense coming up big in a few spots after being run over by the Falcons rushing attack. He was understandably exhausted.
Still, he recognized that the toughest work is still ahead. When asked about his comments to the team after their all-too-close win, Allen said that it’s important to “Enjoy the win but have tough skin tomorrow.” The team’s travel schedule typically sees them fly back from Atlanta to New Orleans late Sunday evening, regrouping Monday for a brief walkthrough practice and film study in positional meetings.
It’s impressive that the Saints rallied back from such a big deficit, but it would have been better to avoid that situation to begin with. They’ll get to work quickly on cleaning up their mistakes and addressing the vulnerabilities Atlanta exploited. Reviewing everyone’s work is the first step in that process.
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